The Edge of War Session 8
The eighth session in the campaign The Edge of War Preceded by The Edge of War Session 7 Riding on the road towards Gwarcheidwad, the adventurers come upon The Whispering Moorlands. Projecting out of the moorlands are large unnatural towers which Isaack does not recognize as a normal part of the landscape, and which Jethro recognizes as being aberrant in nature. As Isaack mage-hands a tower to examine it, the earth opens up beneath the party and they all slide down into a lightless cavern. As they eventually reach the bottom, they find that the earth has closed up above them, locking them in. The adventurers decide to leave their mounts in the cavern so as to avoid harming them, and Halzar cracks a sunrod as they explore the cavern. Around a short bend they find a door, which Isaack recognizes as the style used in Gwarcheidwad. Opening it, the party is surprised to find a mage's study with Isaack's teacher cowering in the corner. The party also finds that despite tumbling into the earth, they can see through windows in the study overlooking the moorlands. The party calms the mage, and discerns from him that the moorlands have been warped by an intrusion from the Far Realm. This intrusion has warped the space and time of the moorlands, disjoining continuity between places and eras. The party sets out to correct this intrusion, and after examining some doorways for odd noises decide to head towards the sound of a waterfall. As they enter the door from where they heard a waterfall, the party is surprised to find that they are on the outside of Gwarcheidwad's wall during the dark time of the year. As they follow the wall, they come upon a hole in it where the masonry turns into natural cavern features. Entering the cavern, the party is attacked by a pair of gricks and a wildly inaccurate grell. After dispatching the squawking, tentacled horrors Halzar finds that his spear's connection to command the primal spirits has been strengthened in thanks from the natural world. The party comes across a gaping maw in the floor, through which they can see a lower cavern beneath. The party decides to explore the rest of the floor, rather than enter the maw. As they wind through the cavern the party encounters a black pudding, which splits off pieces of itself each time it is hit with a melee attack. The party quickly destroys the oozing creature, and Kuori's armor is bolstered by the natural spirits in thanks. The party then returns to the mage's study and enters the final unopened door, behind which they find a large blinking eye. Kuori stabs the eye, which explodes eye juice all over the party. The adventurers then decide to return to the maw in the floor and descend into it. Tying a rope to the cavern's rock features, the party descends twenty feet into the maw. They find themselves in a hallway which Isaack recognizes as being within the city of Gwarcheidwad. Entering a doorway, the party is surprised to find Isaack's father, William, sitting on a throne alone in the darkness. The party then steps back and closes the door behind them, not wanting to deal with William until they were done exploring the twisted dungeon. Winding their way around the throne room, the party then comes upon a large cavern, occupied by a beholder. The beholder curses at the party in Deep Speech, and attacks them using its eye rays. After a lengthy battle in which the adventurers drawn from the deepest reserves of their strength, intelligence, and wisdom the party slays the Beholder by cutting it in half. Jethro and Isaack each are rewarded by the primal spirits, receiving boons to their weapons and armor, respectively. As they speak with William, the party discovers that the Beholder had transformed the moorlands into a facsimile of the Far Realm. In gratitude for saving his fiefdom, William gifts the final Heroes' Artifact, the Vagabond's Die, to Isaack. As they receive the artifact, the party sees a flash from Kepesk of Eilthyra aflame and being attack by the armies of Bane. The blue dragon summons the party to come to the city at once. William lets the party take a boat, captained by the enthusiastic dragonborn Curry Blackclaw so that they can return to Eilthyra with haste. He also sends along a ship of mages to assist the party. After some days at sea, the party's ship is able to run the blockade of Banite ships, and they see Eilthyra on fire. Followed by The Edge of War Session 9